Update on One of Fargo’s Oldest Unsolved Missing Persons Cases

Despite a denial by Moorhead police Lt. Tory Jacobson in February, 2015, news coverage since that time suggests the murder of NDSU Student Tom Bearson is becoming a cold case. Although they continue to diligently work the case, Fargo-Moorhead police have exhausted many of their leads. Although the metro police solve murders and missing persons cases with impressive consistency, the news coverage reminded me that occasionally, they come up empty.

Kevin Gerald Mahoney disappeared on October 2, 1993, while walking from the north Fargo residence of Ben Kukowski to his brother’s south Moorhead apartment. Mahoney’s brother was not at home, and nobody knows whether Kevin ever made it to the apartment. He simply vanished and nobody has heard from him since.

There have been a few rumors of unknown validity in the Mahoney case. One rumor was that he had been in a fight with a man from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. In addition, a woman claimed to have seen Kevin at Rick’s bar in Fargo about a month after his disappearance. Neither claim has ever been substantiated.

Fargo police put out reminders every October on the anniversary of Mahoney’s disappearance, and a new investigator was assigned to the cold case in 2010 with no results. The department has repeatedly said they suspect foul play. At the time of his disappearance, Kevin Mahoney was about 5’10” tall and 165 pounds with long brown hair.

Update:

I recently guest-hosted with Jack Sunday on KFGO/Fargo, and we had Kevin’s sister, Michele Elsenpeter, on the show to discuss Kevin’s case.

She offered several new details that we hadn’t heard before

A rumor that Kevin was not alive when he left the north Fargo home where he was last seen.

A pair of pants with blood on them were found in the home where he was last seen.

The case is open, but inactive with the Fargo Police Department, which means they need tips to investigate further. Anyone with information about Kevin Mahoney, even the smallest detail, is asked to call the Fargo Police at (701) 241-1405.